Hearts ✓

Fourteen 💕

I messed up, and I messed up bad, but maybe messed up will do me good

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I suck in a breath and slowly turn to face Ally, but I regret my actions as soon as I do it. Her face is flushed with anger, but most of all, it's a living depiction of hurt. She can't even muster up to scream at me, she just stares at me as if we're competing in a staring contest.

She's visibly shaking from fury. She made it clear that she disliked Lauren, and I did just what she didn't want me to do, and lied to her face.

Elliot, seeing the commotion, but not me in my loose braid and Lauren's black Panama hat, comes over to calm Ally down, but as soon as she sees my face, hurt flashes through her, as well as disappointment. She promptly recomposes, the shock expression slightly dissolving, as she just kind of looks at me and tells Ally that I'm not worth it, and they leave.

I try to hide under the hat and shrink, but that obviously doesn't happen.

The girls at the table are unusually sympathetic and telling me that it's going to be okay, and I smile at them, I'm slightly thankful for the fact that all these girls have the sweetest hearts. I had always thought that 'cheerleaders' were mean, but it took me this long to realize that stereotypes didn't last in this school.

These hearts a vulnerable, but they're full, not halfheartedly lying. These are the hearts that break. These are the hearts that are never the same, once broken.

Aubrey tells me that although she knows that I'd probably want to be alone right now, says that we should hang out with Lauren more often, and I smile weakly as I agree.

Lauren offers to walk with me, but I tell her it's okay, but as soon as I reach a secluded bench, I kind of just break down, the tears surrounding me.

Soon, I notice someone beside me, and as I jerk back hoping to run away from the stranger, I realize that it's Jake sitting quietly beside me. He gives me a small smile as he runs his finger through his hair.

Then suddenly, for no reason at all, I just burst out crying once more. I'm somewhat feeling chilly, and I'm visibly shaking. So he takes off his jacket and puts it around my shoulder.

"You're so cliché ." I laugh.

"Well, this cliché was done for the sake of the girl not freezing." He points out. "So if it's cliché that keeps you from getting sick, then cliché it is."

I punch him softly in the arm.

He wraps his arm around my shoulder and I lean into his athletic body, and we both just stare at the sun that seems to be competing with the blizzard.

His comforting aura is enough for me.

------

Neither Ally nor Elliot had bothered talking to me ever since Saturday, and so, I had spent more of my time with both Aubrey and Lauren.

Aubrey, like Lauren, had also chosen a favorite part of my house, which was the high stool beside the kitchen.

We had spent hours chatting about the player ways, and about random girl stuff that was actually hilarious, maybe the heart-breaking tradition brought the girls together. It gave us an opportunity to create a bond which was the strongest shield in existence.

"So, you mean, the players have a training process." I laugh.

"I'm seriously not joking, I've seen them, they have this underground battle of who has the wittiest remarks, and that's how the quarterback picks the next victim." Aubrey giggles.

Lauren, who has just made herself a triple chocolate caramel macchiato sits down on the stool next to mine and begins sipping willfully.

"Stop emptying out my months' supply of unhealthy food on that one drink."

We didn't have many sleepovers, but Aubrey, Lauren and I started hanging out more, often alternating between each others' houses. We became quite close because of this, and soon enough, Lauren and Aubrey started raiding my fridge of random sweets.

Aside from this, Jake took me to see his house, again, out of boredom. Which, now with a closer look, is a huge mansion that looks majestic from every angle you view it from. I had been here once before, but this time, standing next to him, I was able to take in a better view of the house.

"What do you think?" He smiles.

"Why don't we trade houses." I offer.

"I don't think you live in a place particularly horrifying, it's actually very tiring to have to do the dishes in here." He laughs. "How about we take a walk through the gardens."

I shrug, why not.

"So. Tell me about your family." I face him.

"There's nothing much to say, actually. I have three sisters, two below the age of ten, the other, seventeen, and like usual, a mother and a father."

"No, tell me about them."

"Okay." He starts. "From my two youngsters, Lou's the older one. She's sweet, but way too absorbed in books, kind of like you. She's really bubbly, like a firework, honestly. Asha, she's a literal shell, you gotta crack her before she really tells you anything, and she's really uptight. She's really fun to be with, but only if she lets you in, and that's because of betrayal. It happened to her quite a few times, and every time, she gets harder to talk to. Then there's Caty, she's seventeen, and like all teenagers, she's uh, cranky yet hilarious"

"Oh. I didn't mean to pry." I look down.

"No, no. It's okay." He grins. "Tell me about yours."

"Okay, so I have a younger sister, Taylor. She's my polar opposite. She's really bizarre and funky, super open and boisterous, she also really big on this concept of some sort of teenage anarchy. I genuinely think she's watching too many teen movies." I laugh. "How's it like it the in the Arden household."

"Peculiar. It's loud one moment, then deathly silent the next." He says. "It's actually so weird to hear my nine-year-old sister talk about crushes on boys."

I resisted every urge to ask him if the boys in pre-school played girls too, and if so, how'd he react knowing he was doing so to one right now.

"How about the Langley household?" He asks.

"I have the most childish Dad in the world, last I checked, he found my sister and me fighting and instead of telling us to stop, he told my sister that she had gotten wrecked, my mom and dad both maintain jobs but my mom has to move around more, and my dad just stays in one office."

Jake and I talk late into the night about how different our families happen to be, we're somewhat laughing while sitting on a bench in his garden.

All this happened because I came out crying after Ally and Elliot caught me in my lie, all this happened because I got caught.

I messed up, and I messed up bad, but maybe messed up will do me good.